Moonlit Wishes!
by Raii-sama
Summary: Wishes are not hard to think of but hard to fulfil. Can an unexpected encounter with Téa Gardner help our CEO believe in them? A birthday party means no harm but with the whole gang invited, a lot could happen. Oneshot meant for Seto Kaiba's birthday. R


**Saturday 10/25/08**

**Author's Note:** Hello there everyone. I'm really happy tonight. Why!? First of all, I got a short break of 4 days from my exams and yesterday I had a blast with my French paper. I never thought that it would be _that_ easy. So, it's the 25th of October. The birthday of none other than the hot CEO we all know. This story was written much earlier but I spent three full hours editing it again. I thought I could improve it, just a little. I know that I said, I would not coming here for a long time but this occasion was so special and I had a ready-made story at hand. So, without further delay, I'll leave you to read it. Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its characters. Imagine what I would do if I got a Seto Kaiba on his birthday(night) else...(Just Kidding!)

**Notes: **For an unknown reason, it seems that the lines meant to separate some paragraphs are not effective so I'll just draw my own boundaries. I'll re-try adding them later on.

**Edited on:** 10/27/08

* * *

--

**Moonlit Wishes**

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* * *

  
**

The cool breeze getting caught in the thick braches, ruffling the leaves, resulted in a rather soothing melody. The various large and tall trees stood to their ground, beautifully aligned on the sides of the main pathway, roots buried deep inside strongly attached to the soil, muffled the sound of that said breeze. Some would take it as a very relaxing music while others might think of it as if there were whispers in the dead of the night.

Takings one soft step at a time, the graceful figure of the young dancer made its way through the dancing flying leaves, lead on by the music of the silent wind. That's what was fascinating about Domino Park after nine o'clock, almost no soul was visible, and at least, human ones were not. Most of the people were either sleeping or doing other stuff instead of being out in the cold.

Gently sweeping away some bangs of brown hair (further darkened by the shadows of the shrouds and trees) blocking her view with a swift palm of hand. A smile adorned her facial features as she spotted the one she was looking for.

Leaning on the wooden barriers separating the benches from the highly magnificent sight of the fountain was the young obstinate man who just loved being left apart. He was looking at the statues and concrete forms of the fountain where the water cascading with a very nice rhythm merging with the motion of the small occasional waves reaching the rim of the large pond-like basin, provided a calm and relaxing spot. The illumination bestowed by the street light poles situated along the way, offered some mild heat to the surroundings.

Noiselessly making her way next to him, she thought she had succeeded when a low grunt told her otherwise. He had heard her and had even acknowledged her presence.

"I knew I'd find you here." She exclaimed happily as if she had just won the lottery. Another sound from him and she knew he was listening; the guy was _trying_ to pay attention.

_Good._

--

* * *

Fumbling with her shallow-blue coloured bracelet, she realised that he was gazing at sky. Glancing up, she saw what he was looking at so intensely; the moon glowed brightly in all her glory among the millions of sparkling stars. Quite coincidentally, that night was the full-moon night, rendering it magical. Taking a peek at the male's face, it seemed that his silence would be what she would receive throughout the whole period that they would be here. Sighing, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

"Oh. Beautiful night, isn't it?"

Still no answer came out of him.

_The least he could do is to give a simple answer; namely a 'yes' or a 'no'._

"Indeed." He had spoken but that was all that he said.

Talk about expecting a 'yes' or a 'no', he had to be all too significant. The young woman stared at him as if he had just grew a second head, her eyes blinking gradually before adjusting to regain the normal look. She clasped her hands together.

"Finally! You've opened your mouth. What are you looking at anyway?"

Striking herself inwardly with a punch, she grasped the stupidity of her question as she already knew that he would now start his icy retorts. Only the countdown needed to be set.

"Gardner, are you really _that_ stupid that you can't see what I'm doing?"

_There he goes._

"Look Kaiba, I haven't come here to argue with you. In fact, I'm here with a most civilised intention."

_What the heck am I talking about?_

The lifting up of one perfect eyebrow of his indicated to her to elaborate. Well, she would not. Not for then. Maybe she would later on.

"Listen to me, I'm sounding like you." She glimpsed at him to see that he had shifted his attention to the fountain once again. "You know, with all these technical and stern expressions and terms. Formal office-type of language. "

That was when she heard a most startling; astonishing, unforeseen (The list of synonyms could go on.) blast. He, Seto Kaiba, was laughing. Not an all evil laugh but an amusing one.

"If only you just heard yourself, Gardner." Continuing his chuckles, his hands left the wooden barricade and found purchase on his stomach; he could nearly fall from laughing.

"Hey stop it! I'm hurt." She gently whacked him on the arm but nonetheless beamed at his sudden exposure to her of all people. After a minute or two, he recuperated his mask of indifference, resuming his marvelling of the park.

Heaving a sigh, Téa left his side and in a nimble way, headed to the fountain; where the CEO was currently staring at. No one could have failed to notice the beauty that Téa Gardner was. Seto Kaiba did not overlook that fact as well. Adding up to the magnificence of the fountain was her exceptional beauty and splendour.

The thin-strapped indigo dress, knee-length it seemed from where Seto was, was hugging her figure. Not a high-priced one, Seto noticed but on her, it looked really classy. Anything would. He could tell that it was a very soft fabric, close to silk, a mixture of silk and cotton maybe. A letter V-formed lapel with cobalt star shaped beads running along the dress showed off her ideal feminine aspect, one single pendant with a rose-flower shaped sapphire hanging loosely, resting just above the lapel. He glanced to the ground at her feet and saw that she wore some flat-heeled light blue sandals. Well, everything she wore that night was blue; his favourite colour.

Surely, Téa loved the blue colour herself, that was why she chose to deck herself up all in blue to go to that party but what's a party without the host. Her intention was only to have his attention while she was talking to him; nothing else. She went to the fountain as she knew that was where he was looking at and also, she liked that spot.

Running her fingers through the cold water, she looked up to the moon and then to him, "Shouldn't you be," choosing her words carefully, she locked eyes with him, "somewhere else at this particular time?"

Bending his head slightly to the side, he smirked, "So should you." with the Kaiba-like way of speaking as usual in a rather humorous tone if you strained to hear.

Smiling she got up and straighten her dress. Téa was having a hard time doing so as the wind roughened somehow, sending shivers down her spine. Her hair blew in the wind and she was so busy trying to flatten it that she kept retreating until she collided directly with a bench and tumbled down.

"Oh crap!" She shouted as she found herself covered in dry soil and some grasses as well as dust. Good thing that those could be removed from her dress by a shake. Hearing some mumble, she glanced up. Heck, she did not even feel a shadow looming over her form on the ground since she was busy cursing.

"What!?" She demanded, staring up Seto Kaiba who was extending a hand towards her, a smirk on his face.

Seto rolled his eyes and nudged his hand. "I said, take my hand, Gardner."

--

* * *

He had seen her stumbled and struggling to get her hair in place. At first he found that amusing but seeing as she would be kissing the ground soon, he decided to go help her out and when he was about to reach her, she fell down. He had sworn that he could have laughed at her and started a new bickering but then, he decided against it. Why not help her for once since she always seemed to be doing that to him? Not that he needed her help at all each time she offered.

"Keep it! I don't need your help." Téa said as she crossed her arms over her chest. She wanted to be stubborn. That was fine by him. Two can play at that game.

"Fine. Have it your way." He said coolly and took a step backward. Téa followed his every move and her mouth could have dropped to the ground by his following action. He dusted his hands off as if he was freed from a tedious task, still smirking; he saw her dumbfounded expression and added "When I offered you my hand. I did not mean it literally."

_He had just made__ a joke; a not so funny one but a joke. It's not even funny. I'm giving him more credit than he deserves._

Feeling the light piercing through her eyes when Seto moved away, she realised he was going away.

"Kaiba, wait! You can't just let me here on my own." Turning around, blue met blue as he looked at her intently.

Putting forth his arm where a watch; expensive one, rested on his wrist to support what he was going to state, he gave her a slight curve of the lips which she did not see, "I recall you rejected my help exactly thirty-two seconds before."

_Conceited bastard; always right!_

"I heard that."

_Shit._

"I heard that one as well."

Sighing deeply, Téa stretched out her hand. "Help me, Kaiba!"

"How much do you want?"

She gave him an incredulous look.

"What do you mean?"

He removed his wallet, withdrew some notes from it and waved them in front of her. He was calling _her_ a beggar.

_The nerve of that __egocentric man!_

"You are an egoistical, an inconsiderate and an insensitive con! I'm not a beggar, you fool! I was only asking for your hand!"

She slapped a palm on her mouth, comprehending the double-meaning of her own words. She could not believe she had just said _that_.

_Ask for his hand!? What were you thinking, Téa!__ Face the consequences now! __He__ will not let that go._

Seto, on the other hand had his trademark smirk on. He can take full advantage of the situation, get back to their usual business and you bet he would.

"Were you? Really?" He inquired, bowing a little to be in the auditory range of her mumblings.

"I was only kidding about the beggar thing but if you are that," he raised his brows, "desperate about having my hand…" His ever-so-superior gaze penetrated her very soul, "I understand."

"You know what I meant, you idiot!" Téa said as she glared at him the best she could but she could sense a very hard suppress of laughter in the neighbourhood and she could just make out from whom it was.

Deciding not to push it any further as she seemed clearly pissed off, Seto once again held out his hand. "Here. I was kidding."

She reached out for his hand and grasped it. He was being a gentleman; better take full advantage of that. "And yeah, I know what you meant."

_He just had to ruin the moment, didn't he?_

"Thank you, Kaiba." She said while standing up. However, the death grip she had on Kaiba's hand and the fact that the force she used to hoist herself up was a wee bit of an exaggerated magnitude, she ended up pulling Kaiba along with her to the ground.

--

* * *

Anyone who would have seen them would think of a romantic pair having some good time near a fountain, on the grass at midnight in a park but those two were not a romantic pair. They were enemies. Well, Kaiba was Yugi's rival, that is enemy and since Téa was Yugi's friend, Kaiba turned out to be her indirect enemy as well.

Forget the way they were staring at each other at that time. Forget the hands of Seto flat on the ground at each sides of Téa's body to support him from crushing her delicate form with his body. Forget that their pounding hearts were betraying that said enmity between themselves. They were together at that instant, alone and in what a position.

Téa was the first one to break the eye contact, blood rushing to her cheeks colouring it a feeble shade of scarlet. She cleared her throat and gulped. Kaiba was the one who spoke first.

"Why are out here talking to me, Gardner? Shouldn't you be talking to your geeky friends now, right? Shouldn't you be with them at the party at this time?"

His rasp voice was too much to bear for Téa. Why was he breathing heavily for? They had not even run a marathon. In a rather hoarse voice, she answered, "What would I do in a birthday party where the birthday boy is absent?"

The sound of the wind interfered with their words and with their hair. Téa was in a better position since she was lying on her hair while on the other hand; Seto had a difficult time with his hands supporting his weight. He closed his navy eyes as his sleek bangs entered them. He shook his head wildly like a child saying 'no' to his mummy.

"Mokuba said I had till midnight to reach home. That kid ordering me around. I still have two hours before this party ends. I bet Wheeler had finished off the cake already."

"There's no party without the one needed to be present there for it to even start. Without you there, Kaiba, it's like a normal get-together." Kaiba laughed lightly. Téa saw his discomfort caused by the breeze and she brushed his bangs away from his eyes, the latter opening slowly at the sudden unexpected contact. Her fingers brushed against his forehead churning out a peculiar feel from him. He pushed whatever feeling it was away as he always did. His hair was silky; lustrous. That was what Téa thought at that instant.

"If you don't turn up, he will feel bad. Mokuba phoned me to ask if I knew where you were. I swear he was grinning. I could feel it. Wonder why?"

Finally getting conscious of their positions, Kaiba pushed himself up, wiped his hands and took Téa's arm to elevate her to her feet, ignoring her protests. He could not risk getting back to _how_ they were a few seconds before.

"Don't ask me what Mokuba keeps thinking about these days. I don't know." Hearing her chuckle, he turned to look at her, seriously. "Well, how did you know I was here?" The commanding tone was back.

"I—I often come here myself to get some peace. It feels like my wishes can be fulfilled in this moonlight, in this atmosphere, near this fountain. You know, it's like you toss a coin in the water and see your wish come true instantly."

Going back to the fountain, she swirl her hand inside the water to make a small whirlpool and giggled to herself. "We were coming from the arcade during the late-night specials. Me and the guys, that is. That was when I saw you, sitting where I am right now. You seemed lost somewhere, admiring the sky."

She lifted her gaze and fixed it on his. "It was a similar night, Kaiba. That's how I came to know that you were here."

--

* * *

Téa had not really paid attention to his attire earlier and now that he was in a full view, some yards away, the moonlight focussing its attention to his perfect body, she saw what he was wearing. No long trench-coat. No business suit. No ridiculous Battle-City outfit. He wore a white silk shirt with the first two buttons opened up and it was loosely held by his leather belt and buckle. The small dual-monster card like locket which held Mokuba's picture hung around his neck. His well-built body; biceps and all could make out even through the fabric. The fine black pants matched his body from the waist downwards. Expensive black shoes ended everything. He was rich, sure but he seemed so casual at that time. So handsome as well; he was a fine specimen. Seto Kaiba was of his kind; the only one.

Kaiba pondered over her words.

_She has wishes which she can only feel like they will be fulfilled?_

"Oh, so that's how you've figured out." There was no need to elaborate on that. He would not ask her how she felt at that time or how did he look like. Helpless? Weak? He wouldn't. Instead, he opted to know how she felt while coming here.

"What are your wishes, Gardner?"

She tilted her head to watch her reflection in the clear water. Getting up, she spun around charmingly. Taking a small bow and doing another elegant pirouette and jumped through the air as if she had wings and ended up on her toes, taking another bow, her hands imitating a fluttering of wings, finishing up on her waist as she stood to a standstill like she was on a stage.

"This is what I want to do, Kaiba." A minor panting was hinted in her voice. "I want to dance. Dance my way to glory. Go to Julliard, that famous school of performing arts."

Kaiba just stood there. That was flabbergasting. He never thought that Téa Gardner could stun him in this way. He surveyed her every stride, her pace, the action indicated by them. She was mind-blowing. He might not know much about the requirements to get into that school she had mentioned but if she showed them her steps, they would be impressed. Hell, he, Seto Kaiba had been impressed of all people.

"I suppose this wish of yours can be fulfilled, Gardner. You have the talent for sure. I think you were incredible."

_I haven't just said __that__…have I?_

"Wow, thank you for the compliment, Kaiba. It means a lot." Hearing her exclamation he knew and confirmed that he did say that.

"And?"

She gave him a bewildered expression. Wanting to know what he meant, she added another word to his question. "And what?"

"And what are your other wishes?"

_Oh! So, he wants to know that._

"Ah. You really don't want to know that. You'll laugh at me." She said letting out a nervous laugh.

Kaiba walked up to her and their proximity was so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his body, the normal body temperature that is; nothing more. He liked playing it dumb, literally. So, Téa knew that he wanted her to give details.

"I wish to see my family, my friends, all of my friends, happy, well off with the persons they love dearly."

His eyes widened ever so slowly.

"I wish for a happy family. Rather old-fashioned thinking I know but I want to be with the only one I will truly love. Atem was my first love but he was not the true one. He is gone."

The mention of that pharaoh did not please him at all. All that unwanted past experience came back to him. He continued hearing her out though.

"I always wished to be successful. Kind of like you, Kaiba, you have everything that you need, that's what you told me, remember?"

--

* * *

She looked at him and saw his frown. He was undoubtedly thinking about Duellist Kingdom. "I pondered over what you said. I know what you meant. You have your money, your power, your success. You have love."

_Where did she get that idea? _

Seto stared at her as if she said something far-fetched.

As is she heard his thought, she continued, "I mean, love in the form of Mokuba; your little brother. He loves you a lot, Kaiba. You love him too. And I always tell you that you don't have any friend but once again, Mokuba is your friend, somehow, your childhood buddy, playing companion. You were always there for him."

Kaiba could not help but smile at this interpretation of his life from her. While he thought that he said it all wrong, she had found a way to prove him right. She was impressive no doubt.

"You do have everything that you need at the end of the day, Kaiba. Everything. And I, well, I just wish for a happy life. Free from worries. Think of me as one believing in the utopias."

Expressing her amusement in a short laugh, she saw the solemn expression on her talking companion and could not stop wondering why he could not laugh again as he did before. Was it so hard for him to open up?

"You are an optimist, Gardner. Looking out, reaching out for the best things in the world; believing in them."

_Damn it! I'm sure I'm just sounding like her right now!_

Quirking an eyebrow in his direction about his previous words, Téa smirked but decided to let it go. The guy was having the guts to have a decent conversation; she thought that she should not ruin that effort of his.

Okay, enough of talking about myself. What about you, Kaiba? You've got anything or _anyone_ you wish for?"

Giving her a sceptical look, he simply shook his head.

"No."

_Oh yeah, the famous mono-syllable answers. __I completely forgot about them when he stops behaving like a jerk._

The prominent CEO went back to star-gazing as the deafening silence took back its rightful between the two brunettes as did the distance. He did not have to justify his wishes and wants to her. Téa hated that silence. When she was with her friends, there was not a single grain of that and there, she was standing near a businessman who liked to keep mum.

"Back to the cold-hearted moron who thinks only about himself, I see." Téa spoke softly to herself with _no_ intention whatsoever for the young man next to her to hear what she said. Unfortunately, he heard and he snapped his head in her direction to give her a piece of his mind when she nearly rendered him deaf with her bawl.

"LOOK! A SHOOTING STAR!"

Téa moved her hands in frenzy showing a particular part of the sky. Seto had to slap his hands on his ears to stop the buzzing going on there mumbling. "More like a bombarding mouth of Gardner." Fortunately for him, she did not hear him. Téa was too busy feeling over-excited like a child. It was the second time she saw one. The first shooting star she saw was when she was five years old.

He looked up where she was revealing and saw nothing but the dust trail left by the star fading slowly. "I missed it."

"Oh don't worry, Kaiba. You'll just have to wait for fifteen years as I did, you'll see one for sure." Seto rolled his eyes. She thought she was funny. He had seen lots of those things from the various business trips he made around the world but he had never put in practise the fact that a wish could be fulfilled by its sight and wishing upon it. Like hell. Well, maybe he would try but he had just missed it just because of Gardner. She just had to divert his attention from star-gazing. Just when he was approaching the right moment, she had to remind herself that he was a jerk.

"Now, time to make my wish." Téa rubbed her hands together as if she was a cook ready to slit a chicken.

--

* * *

Kaiba watched her carefully. She had closed her and bent down on her knees as if she was in a church. She clasped her hands in front of the chest and bowed her head to rest of them. It was almost cute and for a nano-second, Kaiba's gaze softened. He arched his head to examine the mixed up expression on Téa's face. So, she was debating on which of her wishes she should choose.

Seto chuckled inwardly. Giving up, Téa opened one eye to see what Kaiba was doing. She had completely forgotten about him in those last few seconds. She was shocked to see Seto Kaiba's form bent upon her, watching her closely. He removed himself abruptly as he saw Téa peeped up at him. Clearing his throat, he turned to the other side as if nothing had just happened. Technically, nothing had happened.

"You were staring at me?" Kaiba stirred a little. "So, tell me, were you or not?" Téa pursued as she came in front of him; just what he needed at that moment, apparently.

"Don't flatter yourself, Gardner. I was looking at your stupid expression, that's it."

_Good escape._ _Keep it up._

"Yeah right, Kaiba." She put her hands on her hips and smiled at him. "Tell you what, Kaiba." Seto gave her a cool look and a smirk of his urging her to complete what she wanted to say. "You can have my wish."

_WHAT!?_

The baffled expression on Seto's face was priceless, revealing his shock to no extend. He quickly took hold of himself. "What do you mean by "You can have my wish."? I don't need it, thanks."

Grinning a little, Téa continued, "Oh come on, Kaiba. I said take it. It's my gift for today."

_Good way of not spending any money for a gift._

Seto smirked. This girl was intelligent. That was so smart on her behalf but—

"I did not see the star, Gardner. I can't make the wish." Téa sighed and placed her hand on her forehead. "Look Kaiba, I saw it. It means I can make a wish but I gave you my wish for you to make a wish. Since, you have my permiss—accord to make a wish from my wish using the shooting star that I saw. You can undoubtedly make a wish. I saw it; I had a wish which I gave to you on voluntary basis which means you indirectly saw the star too through my eyes. And since you kinda saw it, you can make that damn wish already."

--

* * *

Seeing the amused look on Seto's face, she jabbed a finger in his direction. "Did any of that make some sense now?"

"I think it did." He replied.

"It did!?" She asked, surprised but then added, "I mean; Of course, it did." She had not even got the meaning of what she said. She just wanted to explain that she wanted him to have that wish even though she is the one who saw the shooting star. Dear, she was having a hard time.

"So you are giving me that wish on 'voluntary basis'?" The smirk was back, as usual.

"Eheh! Yeah. Ah, just make your bloody wish already!"

_Boy, he is irritation personified, more than when Sulphur got caught in your eyes and__ your lungs, it chokes you to death._

Crossing her arms in front of her upper body, she scrutinised him. "What?" Kaiba asked as he saw her long investigating stare.

"I'm waiting for you to make that wish." She replied, nose in the air.

"I already made it." His reply came in a cool tone. Téa was taken aback.

_How? When? Where?_

Her eyes narrowed over him. "Oh yeah, I did not see it. Neither did I hear it. Just how come have you made it so slyly?" She enquired as she watched Kaiba ran a quick palm over his hair to flatten it.

"I thought about saying it in my mind."

"You what!?" Seriously, Téa thought that was outrageous. He had made a wish in his mind. Who is their sane mind would do that? Did he not know the functioning and steps of making a wish?

Exhaling noisily, she gave him an apparent frown. "This is not how it works, Kaiba. You saw me back then; how I did it. You know, get on the knees and all." Seto gave her a 'You-must-be-kidding!' look.

There is no way for which he was going to get down on his knees in front of her; absolutely no way. There was no possible way except maybe when he was forcefully shoved to the ground by the annoyed blue-eyed cheerleader.

--

* * *

"What the hell do you think you are doing, Gardner!?" He snapped at her.

"Just shut up, Kaiba! Now, fold your hands and do it properly." She was ordering him? How could she?

"Don't order me around." Trying to fight back her hands on his shoulders, he renounced. "Fine, Gardner! Just leave me now. How much down more do you want me to go? Do you want to bury me or what?"

Giving him a tap as he stopped struggling, she smiled, "There now, Kaiba. It wasn't so hard, you see." That was when he realised that she had her hands on his shoulders, pressing him to ground. Téa saw him look from her to her hands. She hastily removed her hands and took a few steps back, blushing unnoticeably.

Locking eyes with her once again, Seto sighed and put his hands together. Sighing yet again, he diverted his gaze towards the fountain and closed his eyes. Intertwining his fingers, he let his lips barely graze them as he brought his hands to his face. His shirt flew with the small puffs of air that got lost in the white fabric. The gentle wind made the chocolate bangs of his caressed his forehead. Téa watched in amazement the sight before her, beaming ever so lightly.

_He looks so calm. _

The girl continued to admire the scene.

_So peaceful._

Inclining her head, she continued to study the CEO.

_Handsome as well. More than handsome actually. _

Téa shivered. She could not be having feelings for this man…could she? Just when she was in these thoughts, she saw a smile flicker across his face. She was puzzled and wondered what made him smile.

_Probably a wish for Mokuba._

Yeah, Kaiba would not wish anything for himself. She decided to end her thoughts there itself and spent the next moments appreciating the spectacle. She did not even realised when she spaced out. It was only when she vaguely saw a movement in front of her that she was cut from her trance. Observing clearly, she saw the blurred vision transformed into Kaiba's hand in front of her face.

"Where were you lost?" He asked casually before smirking, "When I got up, I saw that you were admiring me in so much awe. You just had to drool to complete it."

"Why you—Idiot!" She placed her hands on her hips. "For your information Mr. Fangirls-drool-over-me, the amount of time that you take to make a wish can make anyone have a little nap. Thank your stars that I only zoned out. What did you wish for?"

"Secret," came the infamous answer. "We are not supposed to reveal that, Gardner, it never comes true else."

_The perfect genius has spoken._

--

* * *

Deciding to change the subject and get him to that party, Téa took a different approach. "Look at this moon, Kaiba. Look at these stars. They seem to close to us." Seto raised his head to confirm what she said.

"It's like they have bowed down tonight specially." She turned to meet his eyes. Both were drown by the blue of each other's orbs. "It's like they personally wanted to wish you tonight, Kaiba." She took a step forward. "Just like I wish to do, myself; wishing you personally."

She took another step forward, then standing directly in front of him. "I'll never forget this night and I hope that you don't either." Placing a hand on his shoulder, she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "You are not a bad person, Kaiba. Not at all." She then looked at him in the eye. "Happy birthday."

And…She kissed him on the cheek.

Kaiba froze, his hands involuntarily wanted to hold her. His fist rounded as the feeling sank in. Breaking away, she wished him once again. "Happy birthday, Seto," She let it trail for a second before adding, "Kaiba." She chuckled and withdrew herself, grinning impossibly. "If only you could see your face."

Kaiba on the other hand was utterly mixed up in a series of emotions. He did not know whether to be shocked, angry or amused…or even happy but he did gave her a small upside curve of the lips. The feel of her lips still lingered across his now burning cheeks. He just prayed that he was not as red as tomato.

Her voice cut through his silent pray. "But I meant each and every word I said, Kaiba. I seriously did." Her chuckling session ended finally as she turned to get to the fountain but her arm was caught before she could move.

"Thank you, Téa," deciding to give her a taste of her own medicine, he added, "Gardner." Instead of seeing a smirk on his face, she saw an amused smile. "And I meant each and every word."

"Well, then, shall we get back to the party?" Téa asked. He nodded. "We could take my car?" He proposed. "Of course we are, why did you think I came to meet you; only for a lift." She winked and he rolled his eyes as Téa laughed, yet again.

The drive to the Kaiba mansion was full of giggles, small jokes from Téa and occasional retorts from Kaiba, with lame jokes as well.

--

* * *

"Look, Téa and Kaiba are together!" A surprised Ryou shouted in the living room as both brunettes entered the mansion in tail.

"What!?" Tristan and Joey burst out. "Téa and Kaiba together!? No f-thing way!" The words flew from both friends together as a chorus.

"Oh, hey Téa. Kaiba." Yugi came up from another door followed by Mokuba. "Hey Yugi." Téa went up to talk to him.

"Seto, finally! Thanks, Téa, you did a good job." Mokuba raised his thumb at the girl whilst Seto gave her a questioning look. Téa just shook her head.

"Oi Moneybags, good thing you've turned, a few minutes and I could nearly die of hunger." Joey came out from nowhere, holding a plate with several goodies which Mokuba had asked the cooks to finally unleash as he saw Seto came in.

"If I knew that before, mutt, I would have taken more than just an hour to come here." Seto replied. Mokuba rolled his eyes, much like his brother. "Leave it, Seto. Come. We are soon going to need the birthday boy to blow the candles."

"I don't blow candles, Mokuba." Yanking his brother by the arm, Mokuba brought him to the table where a wonderful cake rested, shaped like a miniature version of Kaiba Land with three blue eyes white dragons encircling an ultimate blue eyes white dragon whilst a perfect small sized Kaiba Corporation Building gave height to the cake.

_Ingenious work indeed._

Seto noted at the several candles were placed in a specific square on the cake; an art-piece quite impressive in Seto's eyes. He was _never_ impressed, not before that night at least.

"Alright, make a wish and blow your candles, Kaiba." Ryou instructed. As soon as he heard those words, Seto glanced at Téa who just nodded at him. Inhaling a deep breath, he lowered his head to the cake and closed his eyes briefly.

_I wish that this day, whenever it will come every year, goes off happily…for everyone._

Blowing off the twenty candles there, he straightened up hearing all the clapping going on. Mokuba handed his brother a small knife with a beautiful blue ribbon tied to it in a bow. Seto sliced a very large piece and fed Mokuba with it, the younger Kaiba in turn, encouraged by whom else but Joey, took back the remaining half of the piece and pushed it in Seto's mouth, the fudge getting everywhere.

"Oh look, Kaiba boy knows about these rites." Joey commented being rewarded with laughing fits and an icy glare from Seto Kaiba. "Well, at least I could have had a descent birthday party if it wasn't for a dog running away from the rabid animal shelter and founding refuge here."

"Seto, be gentle for once." Mokuba intervened. "I am," came by the reply of our businessman while he gave a threatening glance at Joey, "_Gentle_. As gentle as usual."

Chuckling, Téa marched in between the two ever-green genre foes, "Oh boys, quit it. It's a party for heaven's sake!" Hail to the girl of the situation.

"Everybody, let's get this party started." Tristan put on some rocking music while Ryou talked with Yugi(who was currently admiring Téa) about dual monsters. After being wished twice by all the members present for this annoying party (to the CEO), Seto retired himself in his room for a moment. He passed by the tables where he saw Joey grabbing a large piece of cake and gobbled it down in less than three seconds. Then the 'mutt' swallowed a whole bunch of some syrupy dumplings.

_Same disgusting old__ mutt!_

He saw his little brother and Téa, next to the table on which all the gifts were deposited, apparently laughing over something.

_Over-enthusiastic girl and that too displaying her enthusiasm to my brother; lucky guy! I'm__ pretty much sure I just did not think that!_

_--_

_

* * *

  
_

Carefully climbing up the stairs leading to his personal bedroom where he would finally get some peace from those trouble-some, he dashed to his bathroom. Opening the tap, leaving the water rushing down in the small washbasin, Seto took some of the liquid and washed his face. He was feeling abnormally hot. When he woke up that morning, he had come across an excited Mokuba who told him that he should come home that night for his 'surprise' birthday party. There was no need to hide it as he would have found out sooner rather than later.

He got almost two days' job done in the six hours than he went to Kaiba Corp. He had seen that the weather outside was good and that the sky was clear before that night would have fallen. That was when he decided to go take a walk in his favourite place at a time where no one would bother him or so he thought.

Seto had discarded his formal attire by removing his coat and tie and also as the weather was hot, he had even looked to the left, then to the right before undoing the first few buttons of his shirt. It was the second time that a beautiful night like this occurred.

But he was not expecting Téa Gardner to barge in the moment he was almost completely exposed as some normal behaving adult. So, his brother had sent her to bring him and she had succeeded. He remembered the thumb-up that Mokuba gave Téa when they had entered the hall.

He was about to wipe his still-dripping face when he heard a knock on the door. Groaning he just patted his face once and got to the door. Opening, he saw a grinning Mokuba standing, a glass in hand. Inspecting its content, Mokuba approached the glass to his eyes.

--

* * *

"Don't worry; it's no strong alcoholic drink, only mild beer; sweet alcohol, you know." The younger Kaiba's grin widened at his brother's frown. Back to what he came here for. "Oh Seto, I was thinking; have you been seeing Téa lately?"

"Mokuba, and just what is _that_ supposed to mean?" The warning tone was present in tha deadly icy question of Seto Kaiba.

"Oops, wrong question. I meant; have you seen Téa somewhere? Funny how she was here, in the house I mean, a second before and I disappear to get a drink and then I don't see her so I thought she might be with you." Scratching his head nervously, Mokuba gave an oh-so-nervous laugh.

"She was with you the last time I saw her." Seto stated. Mokuba smiled, "I see, so you've noticed."

"Moku—"

"Leave it; I just came to tell you that the opening ceremony will soon begin." Seto was confused so he asked, "The opening what?"

Mokuba sighed. "You can be stupid at time, big brother, the opening of the gifts, correction; your gifts. See you downstairs. Come quick!" Mokuba shouted as he sprinted down without giving a chance to his brother to acknowledge or deny his previous words.

--

* * *

Some minutes later...

Seto Kaiba stared at the mass of gifts in front of him. He might have seemed neutral on the outside but his mind was crying 'bored'. Mokuba had said that the domestics had all given him something.

_How considerate of them. _

Mokuba also added that the geek squad had their fair share of contribution in that pile of gifts as well.

_They had to buy their tickets in, didn't they?_

Though he was wondering what Téa Gardner had got him as present, he let it slide away. Mokuba also mentioned that he had something special for him; he always had one on his birthday. Anything that Mokuba would give him would always be special.

_The only gift I'm looking forward to._

--

* * *

"This is from me, Kaiba. Hope you like it." Ryou handed him a green packet which weighed a ton or so. It nearly fell to the floor if it was not for the iron grip of Seto at the opportune time. Removing the paper from the 'gift', Seto was stunned but a little annoyed. It was a flat polished stone. Yeah, mostly like the ones found in the museums who exposed his 'past' life. But the words carved on the mineral were very inspiring. "Days have passed into years; you have become better with time. May you continue to become better with each birthday you celebrate. May this day bring to you all things that make you smile. Happy Birthday, Seto Kaiba!"

"Wow, if these words are not meant only for Kaiba. Good job, Ryou." Tristan remarked. Kaiba wore a smug; forget about the material, the lines were good. Great.

"Thank you, Bakura." Politeness took over the usually ruthless birthday boy. "It was nothing, Kaiba. Just a simple stone."

Everyone sweatdropped. He just had to _justify_.

Taking the next wrapped up square in his hand; Seto carefully undid the small knot and remove the violet paper. He saw a game of marbles; Abalone. It was a very tricky game. A card was set inside the box and it read, "Today is your day to shine as every day should be. Happy Birthday! From Yugi and Salomon Muto."

"The king of games has spoken." Joey commented this time. "Beware Kaiba, Yugi kicks ass in all games. _You_ know it better than anyone here." Yugi elbowed him in the sides. "Don't mind him, Kaiba."

"Thank you, Yugi. I can't wait to have a match against you in order to teach the mutt how to play."

Seto ignored the complaints of Joey as he took hold of the following brown packet. It was smaller in size compared to the previous ones but who cared, it was a gift. On the paper was written, 'From Tristan." That really was much precision. Tearing off the paper slowly, Seto looked at the pair of bikers' gloves in his hands. He had offered him some gloves. They were stylish and had the letters 'S' and 'K' etched on them. It seemed to be pricey leather that was used as the textile.

_Not bad._

"Though it seems much more your taste Taylor, it was a nice gesture, thank you." It was a very good way of putting the words; definitely.

"No prob, man! As long as you like it, it's okay with me." Tristan said as he swallowed up a sandwich.

Seto took the yellow papered bag on the table and looked inside. Some yellow stockings with Homer Simpson's face on them, a yellow dotted belt and black t-shirt on which 'Cool Down' was written; all these were in the bag. As soon as Seto got them out, an outburst of giggles erupted as Joey was having hysterics. "Moneybags, just the right size. See how precise I am."

"You really shouldn't have bothered to offer me these, Wheeler. I mean it. You really _shouldn't_ have." Seto rolled his eyes.

"Ah, guess that was a 'thank you', eh rich boy?" Joey asked munching some cookies.

"You've got the picture, Wheeler." The birthday replied. Putting the bag away with all its contents, Seto turned back to the table.

"My gift now, Seto! Open it." Mokuba exclaimed.

Wait. Wasn't something missing?

--

* * *

Mokuba stood in front of his brother, a large orange packet in hand. Seto readily took it and opened it. He examined whatever was inside with great care, a smile threatening to make its way on his face. Everyone came behind him to take a look. It was a painting. There was an eight-year old Seto, standing wearing a toothy smile and holding a V of victory formed by his fingers. Behind him was a large sand box, where were three blue eyes white dragons' cards and a slight jagged sketching of another blue eyes white dragon, on a sand castle made from a bucket.

It was breath-taking. "My drawing has gotten better, huh, Seto? I took this as reference and my old memories." Mokuba showed his locket to his big brother. "T—thank you very much, Mokuba. This means so much to me."

Forgetting all the eyes in the room, Seto accepted the hug from his little brother and broke the contact, "You are right; you did improve in this field as well." Everyone watched the brotherly affection going on; Seto still had his mask on but not much.

"Glad you like it, brother."

--

* * *

Mokuba smiled and headed upstairs. He was so happy that his brother had appreciated his gift that tears welled up in his eyes but he did not want his brother to know that. Two pairs of blue watched the teenager ran up but said nothing to stop. They had both seen his tears but said nothing. Those pair of blue eyes scanned the room before falling on one another.

"So, Gardner, seems like you forgot to get me a gift. Why so? It's rude, you know." Kaiba stated.

"You should never expect things, Kaiba. It's rude as well to ask for gifts from people." The one to whom the question was addressed spoke. She made her way to him. "Besides Kaiba, I already gave you a gift outside. A personal one, you know."

"A what!?" The four other boys present shouted at the same time.

"What do you mean, Téa?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, what personal happened between the two of you?" Joey added.

"To what term, extreme was it personal?" Ryou added.

"Stop it, guys, I'm sure it did not get actually personal, did it Téa?" Yugi added, trying not to think about what his friends was insinuating.

"Chill, relax guys! I was kidding." Téa said as she saw the critical looks of her friends.

"Were you, Gardner? Maybe you should tell them what really _happened_ between us. They'd be surprised." Seto smirked.

"Nothing happened and you know it. Just stop pissing my friends off. Hey guys, you can't believe him more than believing me!" She said, trying to put everything under control.

She approached Seto and placed her hand on his shoulder before lowering it to slip something in his breast pocket. "Open it when I'm gone." She whispered before joining her friends who were busy eating and talking.

Seto touched the hard small box in his pocket before sensing something creased. There was a letter as well.

--

* * *

Mokuba came back down a few minutes later and the music was back on and loud. Snacks and drink were served and Joey grabbed a can of soda before shaking it. He purposely went up to Kaiba, opening it up for the contents to splash on Seto's face. The CEO was furious. The mutt was dead.

"Oh god, I'm having so much fun. You'll never forget this night, Kaiba!" Joey shouted as Seto assaulted him with empty bottles lying around. He was about to throw another one when a hand caught his arm. He looked down at the one who had dared stop him.

"Leave him. He is eating while running. An upset stomach should be enough for him, don't you think?" The sweet voice of Téa Gardner resounded in his mind.

Turning to Joey, he shouted at him, "You are right, mutt, I'll never forget this night and you better beware of that." He turned back to look at Téa, lowering his voice to a mere whisper. "Indeed, I'll never forget this night. And I _mean_ it."

The party finally came to a close and everyone waved the Kaiba brothers goodbye and goodnight, wishing the CEO a last time 'happy birthday'.

"It's past midnight. So. It's no longer your birthday, rich boy. Face it. You're doomed." Joey shouted as he walked on the driveway. Mokuba had asked a chauffeur to escort them each to their residence.

"All a too good reason for you to hurry out of my property, Wheeler. Get out soon before anything happens."

"Seto!" Mokuba said as he closed the door, leaving both of them alone. "You sure are impossible but I love you, big brother." He hugged him once more before heading to bed, yawning on the way.

--

* * *

Finally alone in his room, Seto went on the balcony and looked around. He had enjoyed himself with everyone and their gifts. But. His birthday was over.

Everything was back to its usual calmness. The geek squad was gone. He chuckled slightly, remembering that night too well. He sighed, looking up in the sky. The moon still shone brightly but the stars' blinking and dazzling expressions were fading.

"_Open it when I'm gone."_

Suddenly, her voice was in his head. Remembering her gift, he touched his shirt and retrieved the small indigo velvet box. He opened it up to reveal a small metallic structure with blue pearls in each four parts of it; a four-leaved clover. She had gifted him luck. He took out the letter she gave him and read it, "Seto Kaiba, you are one of a kind. I meant it when I said you are a good person. Mokuba loves you. A simple wish and luck are not sufficient to what you actually deserve." A small smile lit on his face.

"I hope that you will like this gift. I chose it for you. I really want you to show that caring side of yours to anybody else. I know you'll get anything you want in life, Kaiba. Just make the right choice. And, thank you. You know why."

He raised his brows. She could not know, could she? "Happy Birthday, Seto. May this year bring with it all the success and fulfilment for your heart desires. May this day bring to you all things that make you smile. Happy Birthday!"

The last line was quite intriguing. "Yours, in no particular way, Téa."

That ended the letter. So, she knew. He smiled as he got into his room, the moonlight still filtered through the curtains as he remembered the wish he made in the park, Téa Gardner standing not too far away. He had seen her struggles and decided on helping her as she deserved it. He even smiled at what he had wished for under that moonlight and he was sure that she saw him. He did not care. He had made that wish. He had said each and every word. That moonlit wish…

"_I wish that all __her__ wishes are fulfilled" _

_

* * *

  
_

_--_

_THE END_

_--_

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* * *

  
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**End Notes:** What do you think about it? Nice, huh? I personally love it. Review and tell me anything you'd like to point out. Misspellings and all. Oh, one thing, is the rating okay? I had a little bit of hesitation when I chose it but I don't really think it should be rated T so it's your call. You guys and girls tell me. Thanks in advance.

Until next time...

**Minou1992**


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